Season 6 Episode 10: The Love That Binds Us
by katiec32
Summary: /merlinseason6


_In a land of myth and a time of magic, the destiny of a great kingdom rests on the shoulders of a young man. His name: Merlin._

Arthur, Merlin, Gwen, and Gauis were standing around the table in the council chambers. Morgana's letter was on the table in front of them.

"We have no other choice, she is right, if we don't end this Sigan's curse will kill us all anyway." Arthur said.

"But what will you do once you get there? Her army you can defeat, but what about Morgana, what about Sigan?" Gwen asked worriedly. Merlin's expression darkened, "leave them to me." He said firmly. Gauis frowned at him, "Merlin…." Merlin shook his head, "this is my destiny Gauis, I don't know what will happen but I have to try."

Arthur looked at his serious expression and nodded, "we leave at first light."

Preparations for their departure began at once. Servants and Knights could be seen running through the castle organising supplies. The kitchen servants packed bags and bags of food. The stable staff tended to the horses, preparing saddles, and filling saddlebags with supplies. Armour was checked and polished, the Knights sharpened their swords and gathered their weapons. Odin's men prepared to battle alongside the Knights of Camelot. Finally, as the sun set, darkening the red sky, they were ready.

Arthur's men were huddled in the armoury. Odin and his men stood with them. Arthur stood in front of them, with Merlin beside him.

"We defeated Morgana once, and I know we can do so again. Morgana is driven by hatred and greed, while we fight for what is right and for that reason, I believe we will succeed. Morgana has forgotten that the love that binds us is more important than the power we wield. Though her power is strong, the power of friendship, of loyalty and of justice is stronger. For the love of Camelot, we will defeat her."

"For the love of Camelot" cried the Knights.

Opening Credits

Late that evening Merlin was packing his bag ready for their journey the next morning. He heard a soft knock at his bedroom door and opened it to find Hunith standing there. He smiled widely and let her in. She sat on the bed and watched as he ran about the room, shoving things into his bag. "I'm proud of you Merlin" she said. "I haven't done anything yet" he scoffed. "Yes you have, you have helped Arthur to build this great Kingdom." Merlin smiled, "he would have done it without me" he said, sitting on the bed beside her. She shook her head, "I don't believe that for a second."

He smiled. "You will succeed Merlin, you will come home, I am certain of it." She gave him a worried look and hugged him.

The next morning the army rode away before the sun had risen. Gwen and Gauis stood on the steps, sadly watching them leave. "Have faith, my Lady. They will return" Gauis said.

Morgana was sitting on the throne when the doors opened, a man and young boy walked in nervously, and knelt in front of her, bowing their heads. "What news?" she demanded. The man looked up, "The Camelot army, My Lady, they are making their way here." Morgana stood up and grinned, "just as I thought." She walked over and pulled the boy to his feet, "you will take a message to King Arthur for me" she said with a cold grin. The boy nodded, "y-yes, My Lady…."

Merlin was sleeping next to Arthur not far from the dwindling fire. His calm sleep suddenly became fretful, as though he were having a bad dream. Beside him, Arthur opened his eyes and looked across at him with a frown. Suddenly Merlin said "No!" and fell still.

Arthur nudged him, "Merlin, what is wrong?" he said quietly. Merlin's eyes opened and he sat up, breathing heavily. "Nothing… just a dream" he said. Arthur sat up and raised his eyebrows, "it was more than that, what happened?" Merlin pressed his hands to his eyes trying to comprehend what he had seen. "It was Mordred… he was sitting on the ground, with Morgana, she was hurt, he sent his sword toward you… I don't know what happened, I saw you fall, I said 'no!' and I… I woke up." Arthur frowned, "his sword, did it hit me?"

Merlin shrugged, "I don't know."

Arthur was looking at him warily, "is this… is this what is going to happen?" Merlin shook his head, "I don't know."

The camp was up early the next morning. Merlin looked tired and worried and Arthur kept glancing at him and frowning. Arthur, Gwaine, Leon, Percival and Galahad were gathered around the fire. Merlin was knelt in the middle stirring their breakfast. Gwaine frowned up at the red sky as it lightened, "I have had enough of this red sky…" The others nodded in agreement.

"Can't you get rid of it, Merlin?" asked Leon. Merlin shook his head, "the curse is bound to Sigan…" Arthur frowned, "what good is it having a sorcerer for a servant if you can't even lift curses for me?" Merlin turned around and crossed his arms, he gaped indignantly at Arthur. Arthur laughed, and gave him a shove. Merlin rolled his eyes, but smiled in spite of himself.

A guard ran over to them, "your highness, a messenger has arrived from Essetir." Merlin stood up quickly, and looked at Arthur. "I will meet him" Arthur said, standing slowly.

He turned to follow the guard, and smiled when Merlin hurried along beside him.

They walked to the outskirts of the forest and found the messenger, surrounded by five of Arthur's men, two of which were holding his arms.

The messenger was the young boy, and he looked nervous, Arthur nodded to his men to release him. The messenger walked forward and knelt before Arthur, "your highness, a message from the Lady Morgana" he said, holding out a scroll. Arthur took it with a nod and unrolled it as the boy stood.

 _'_ _Hello dear brother, so kind of you to pay me a visit, I will meet you at the standing stone near the forest at noon. You will not be harmed, I wish only to offer a compromise. If you agree to my terms you may leave, if you do not, you return to your men to prepare for battle, we will fight for the crown.'_

Arthur and Merlin read the message and exchanged a look. Arthur raised his eyebrows questioningly at Merlin, who nodded.

Arthur turned back to the boy, "tell Morgana I will meet her." The boy nodded nervously and walked away.

Arthur and Merlin started to walk back to the camp. They had nearly reached it when Arthur stopped suddenly. He put his hand on Merlin's shoulder. "This is it." Merlin nodded. "Whatever happens, I just want you to know how grateful I am for all you have done, I am honoured to call you my friend." Arthur held out his arm and Merlin took it, "and you, Arthur" he replied seriously.

They smiled at each other and turned back to toward camp. "Arthur?" "yes?" "will you ever start being this nice to me when we are not at risk of dying?" "Probably not."

Arthur and Merlin arrived back at the campfire, the Knights stood up, looking at them expectantly.

"Prepare the army, we meet Morgana at Midday" Arthur said to Leon. Gwaine frowned, "you are going to meet her?" Arthur nodded, "she wishes to speak to me first, I will go alone."

Merlin frowned, "I'm coming with you." Gwaine stepped forward, "so am I."

Arthur looked at Merlin who crossed him arms. "Good idea…" Arthur agreed.

The army marched to meet Morgana. Gwaine, Arthur and Merlin were in front. They stopped when they could see the standing stone. Arthur turned to Leon, "wait for us here, do not attack unless I give the signal." Leon nodded, "yes, Sire". Arthur clapped him on the shoulder. He turned to Merlin and Gwaine, and nodded, "ready?" "Ready" they both replied, looking serious.

The three men walked cautiously toward the stones. As they approached, Morgana stepped out.

As she approached Merlin took a sudden step back as if he were pushed, he held his hand up to his head and drew a sharp breath. "What is it?" whispered Arthur as Morgana drew closer. "I don't know… something isn't right" Merlin said. They stopped speaking as Morgana stepped in front of them.

"Hello Arthur" Morgana said with a cold smile. He nodded, "Morgana." She looked at Merlin and Gwaine with disgust, "of course, you have brought the mighty Emrys and your brave Knight…"

She looked at Arthur, hoping for a reaction, but he remained calm. "What do you want, Morgana?" He asked. Morgana laughed loudly.

Merlin took a slight step in front of Arthur, and raised his hand. "What do you want, Morgana?" Arthur repeated.

"Only what is rightfully mine… Camelot." She said. Arthur shook his head, "you know that will not happen."

Morgana glowered at him, "my, my…look at you, consorting with sorcerers… Uther would be so disappointed."

"I am not my father" Arthur said firmly. "No, you are worse" spat Morgana, "I know how you feel about sorcery, I know you are only using poor Merlin here to fight your war for you, even if he is too foolish to see it."

"You are wrong." Merlin said firmly. Morgana laughed, she threw up her hand and her eyes flashed, she sent a spell flying toward Arthur. Merlin raised his hand and the spell stopped short. She smirked, raised her hands, and sent another spell. Again Merlin raised his hands and the spell stopped short.

She looked at him disdainfully, "really? Is that all you've got?" she asked him, sounding unimpressed.

"You said we wouldn't be harmed Morgana" Merlin said. She laughed, "you are more of a fool than I thought."

She sent another spell, but Merlin blocked it again. "Not going to fight me, Emrys?" she asked coldly.

Arthur took a small step forward, "none of us want to fight you, Morgana" he said gently.

She gave him a cold look, "it's a little late… my army is marching out as we speak."

They heard a screech and could see a large beast approaching from behind Morgana. Gwaine and Arthur drew their swords. Morgana laughed. As the creature came closer they could see Sigan was up to his old tricks, the beast was a gargoyle, enchanted to life.

Morgana smiled as it came toward them. She sent another spell toward Arthur, Merlin blocked it but she sent a second one and Arthur was knocked off his feet. The beast ran toward him, before Merlin could react Gwaine yelled, he ran forward with his sword drawn. The beast grabbed him and flew off.

"NO!" she screamed, "I want Arthur!" Merlin and Arthur turned back to look at her, but she was already gone.

Arthur approached the army at a run, "where is Gwaine?" asked Galahad. "Morgana has him" Arthur replied.

"What do we do?" Leon asked. Arthur looked at Merlin, "we are going to get him back." Merlin nodded. "Morgana is sending her army, so this is where we say goodbye." Leon drew a deep breath and nodded, "yes Sire."

Arthur held out his hand, which Leon took. "Good luck, I hope to see you all soon" Arthur said.

Morgana stomped into the throne room. Mordred and Sigan were speaking next to the throne and looked at her cautiously as she approached. "What happened?" Sigan asked. "Your creature let me down Sigan, it took the Knight" she spat. Sigan frowned. "It took a Knight?" Mordred asked. "Yes…" said Morgana sitting heavily on the throne, "Sir Gwaine… , no matter, it won't be long before my brave brother and his loyal sorcerer come to rescue him. Let them come, let them find me. They can do me no harm." She smirked, Sigan looked relieved.

Arthur and Merlin cautiously approached the castle. They crept to the gate, which Merlin quietly unlocked with magic, and walked into the courtyard.

They could see Gwaine in the corner surrounded by three of the large beasts. He was swinging his sword wildly at them but it seemed to have no effect. Arthur held up his hand and gestured them forward. They ran toward Gwaine and the beasts attacked. Merlin blasted one out of the way, and Arthur grabbed Gwaine's arm, pulling him back to safety. Gwaine grinned, "good you see you boys!"

They backed away from the creatures, swords drawn. Merlin blasted the last two away and they all paused, breathing heavily.

"Now what?" Gwaine asked. Merlin's face darkened, "now we find Morgana." Arthur and Gwaine nodded, "and then…" Gwaine asked.

Merlin shook his head, "I don't know… but something doesn't feel right, I don't know if I can harm her."

Arthur sighed, "what do you want to do?" Merlin took a deep breath, "we find her anyway, it's our only hope."

Arthur, Gwaine, and Merlin crept along the hall. They heard voices coming from behind a closed door in front of them, and Arthur nodded toward it. They threw open the door and burst into the room. They had entered the throne room, Morgana was seated on the throne, and Mordred was standing next to her. She smiled at them as she stood up, "how nice of you to join me." As she walked toward them Merlin gestured for Arthur and Gwaine to stand behind him, and stepped forward with his hand raised. "Your bravery is admirable Merlin, but it is no use" she said dryly. She touched the stone around her neck, her eyes flashed and she vanished, appearing behind them with a dagger at Arthur's throat.

Gwaine screamed and ran forward with his sword out, Morgana's eyes flashed and he was thrown backward. "Try that again, and I'll kill him" Morgana said to him coldly as he got up slowly.

Merlin kept his hand raised, but did not attack. He took a step closer to her and once again felt that he was being pushed back. He held his palm to his temple and winced. Morgana grinned.

"Let him go, Morgana" Merlin said firmly. Morgana smirked, "make me" she taunted.

Merlin looked at Arthur. Arthur nodded. Merlin gave him an apologetic look before raising his hand toward Morgana, "Astrice!" he cried. As he did so, Morgana released Arthur. The spell flew toward her but then all of a sudden it rebounded. Gwaine, Arthur and Merlin were all thrown backward. Merlin heard Morgana laughing before everything went black.

Arthur shook Gwaine awake and he sat up slowly, rubbing his head. "You alright?" Arthur asked. Gwaine nodded, "what happened?" Arthur shook his head and sighed, "no idea, Merlin thought he couldn't hurt her, seems he was right"

Gwaine looked around wildly. They were in a small cell. He stuck his head out and looked into the cells beside them. All were empty. "Where is Merlin?" he asked. Arthur shook his head sadly, "I don't know."

Merlin was unconscious when he felt someone start to shake him. "stop it Arthur, I want to sleep" he mumbled.

The person continued to shake him, "come on, wake up" said an unfamiliar voice. Merlin opened his eyes and looked up. The light was very dim, but he could just make out a man he did not know sitting beside him.

Merlin sat up and rubbed his head. "Who are you?" he asked. The man smiled, "my name is Alain, and you are?" "Merlin…. Alain… you are Sefa's uncle?" Alain gasped, "yes, do you have news of her?" Merlin nodded, "she arrived in Camelot some weeks back, she is safe." Alain breathed a sigh of relief. "Where are we?" Merlin asked. "This cell was created as a trap for sorcerers. King Lott meant to use it on Morgana, but she found out and… here I am" he said sadly. "How do we get out of here?" Merlin asked. Alain shook his head, "its impossible… trust me.. I built it" he said in a dark voice.

Merlin stood up, he held out his palm and a small flame appeared in, lighting up the tiny room. He looked around, and then back down at Alain. Alain was staring at him with fear. "What? What is wrong?" Merlin asked, worried. "Y-you cant use magic in here…." Alain stammered. Merlin frowned at him, "why not?"

"The walls of this cell are lined with a stone, the stone stops you from drawing magic from the earth. Morgana wears one around her neck to reverse any enchantments used against her… all sorcerers should be powerless in here….." he trailed off looking at the light in Merlin's hand with awe.

They heard the sound of someone walking toward them. "Don't let her know you can use your magic" Alain whispered urgently. Merlin let the light go out immediately.

The top portion of the door opened, and they could see Morgana by the flickering light of the candle she held.

"Hello Emrys" she sneered. "What have you done with Arthur?" Merlin demanded. "Don't worry, my brother and his knight are fine… for now." "If you harm them-" Merlin threatened. Morgana cut him off "you will do what? Even the mighty Emrys is powerless in this cell" she laughed.

"What do you want Morgana?" Merlin said firmly. She laughed again, "I want you to die Merlin, alone and friendless in this cage, but first I want you to suffer, I want you to see just how wrong you are. You may be stupid enough to believe Arthur accepts magic, but I want to show you the painful truth. This cell lies under the floor of the throne room, I am going to have a little chat with my brother and you will be able to hear every, painful, word."

Morgana smirked. Merlin looked at her fearlessly, "you are wrong about him." "We shall see" she said, slamming the door shut.

Arthur and Gwaine were sitting on the floor of their cell when two guards approached with Morgana. "I thought we might have a little talk" Morgana said coldly, as she unlocked the cell.

The guards stepped in and grabbed Arthur, Gwaine ran forward but they pushed him back, and shut the door. "Sorry Gwaine, this is a family meeting" Morgana said.

She walked away from the cell with the guards dragging Arthur behind her. Gwaine shouted, and kicked the bars with frustration.

Merlin held up his hand and the flame appeared in it again. "How do we get out of here?" he asked Alain again.

Alain frowned, "the walls are lined with the stones" Alain said, pointing to the small orange stones that studded the wall, "I suppose if you could remove them, you would be able to destroy the wall… you don't have anything sharp on you, do you?" Merlin frowned, the flame in his hand died as he removed his belt and held up the buckle with a shrug. He turned to the wall and dug the buckle in to the closest stone, to his great relief, it popped out and fell to the floor.

Morgana walked into the throne room, with the guards dragging Arthur behind her. She walked up to the throne which Sigan was seated on. "Well, well, King Arthur, how nice to see you again" Sigan said with a cold smile. Arthur frowned at him, "where is Merlin?" he demanded. "He is fine, I thought we could have a little chat, sit down." She gestured to a chair not far from the throne. Arthur frowned at her, "sit!" she shouted. He looked at her warily, shrugged, and sat down.

"So…Arthur, you lifted the ban on sorcery. Your father would be furious" she taunted. "It was the right thing to do" Arthur said firmly. Morgana laughed, "Merlin may be fooled by your words but I am not, you know you need him if you stand any chance of surviving, you lifted the ban so he would help you."

Arthur shook his head, "you are wrong, Morgana. I no longer believe sorcery to be evil, Merlin is proof of this." Morgana smirked, "come now Arthur, there is no need to lie to me." Arthur frowned, "I am telling the truth, now what do you want from me?"

She glared at him "If you really accept sorcery then why not hand the throne back to me, it is rightfully mine after all." Arthur shook his head, "Sorcery may not be evil, but your actions are, you know I can't give you Camelot."

Sigan stood up and walked toward them, "you really think that someone with as much power as Merlin will be content being your servant? Didn't your father teach you sorcerers are evil? It wont be long until he tries to take your Kingdom from you."

Arthur's face remained confident, "My father was wrong, but so are you. Merlin would not do that." "fine, if you have such faith in him you can die with him!" Morgana shouted.

The trapdoor opened and Arthur fell. The chair crashed noisily to the ground. "Fool!" Sigan screamed.

Arthur stood up slowly in a dark room. A flickering light appeared before him and he saw Merlin's grinning face, he was standing before Arthur with a little flame in his palm. Arthur's eyes widened in surprise. The flame went out as he pulled Merlin into a hug. "Merlin! Are you alright?" he cried. "Fine, you?" Arthur nodded. "Where is Gwaine?" Merlin asked. "Still in the cells as far as I know…. Where are we?"

"This cell was built as a trap for sorcerers, Morgana doesn't realise I can use my magic in here" Merlin explained. "How is it you can use your magic?" Alain asked. Merlin shrugged, "because I am Emrys, I guess" he said. Alain's eyes widened, "you.. you are Emrys?" Merlin nodded. Alain smiled, "then there is hope."

Alain looked at Merlin with awe, and Arthur watched him curiously.

Morgana stormed out of the castle with Sigan close behind her. They approached Mordred who was standing in the courtyard. "Are you ready, Mordred?" Morgana asked. He smiled, "we are ready to attack, my lady. I will not fail you."

Morgana looked behind him to the waiting army and smiled.

Merlin was digging stones out of the wall. Arthur was standing beside him with his hand out. There was a small flame flickering on his palm and he was looking at it with great concern. "Arthur! Move your hand, I can't see" Merlin said. Arthur frowned and moved his hand over toward Merlin, lighting up the wall. Merlin caught sight of his worried expression, "we can swap, if you like…" he offered. Arthur nodded, "good idea, you are pretty slow" he teased. They swapped places and Arthur started to dig out the stones. "So once we get out of here, what do we do?" Arthur asked. "While Morgana is wearing that stone I can't touch her…" Merlin explained. Arthur nodded, "we find Gwaine, and then we get that stone."

"That should be enough" Merlin said. Arthur put down the belt and stepped back, they looked at the wall. Enough stones had been removed that there was two feet of clean wall in front of them.

"Stand back" Merlin said. Arthur stepped back, Alain was sitting against the back wall watching with concern.

Merlin held up his hand, his eyes flashed and the wall crumbled, leaving a hole big enough for them to climb through. Arthur grinned and slapped Merlin on the back. Merlin frowned slightly but looked pleased with himself. "let's rescue Gwaine" Arthur said. He and Merlin exchanged a nod.


End file.
